1. Field of Invention
The invention relates to a system, database structure and method for managing defect information related to manufactured or assembled products which are generally referred to herein as “modules.” The invention also relates to a method and system for improving the quality of manufactured modules.
2. Description of Related Art
Optical communications component and systems manufacturing is a demanding environment that requires very high quality and defect free products. To that end, the manufactured or assembled components and systems are subjected to rigorous testing and inspection before shipment to a customer.
The manufacture of optical communications components and systems, like some other manufacturing environments, relies upon manual or semi-automated processes in which human personnel are involved during the assembly, testing, repair, and inspection phases of production. The human element permits defects and defect symptoms to be observed by a variety of personnel such as the assembly operator, troubleshooter, repairperson (reworker) and inspector. However, there is no systematic coordination of the various information generated during observations, tests, repairing and inspections conducted by these different personnel.
Some of the manufacturing processes may also be automated such as automated or semi-automated component placement, testing, and inspection. The machines involved in this automation may also gather symptom or defect information. Coordinating and sharing this automatically or semi-automatically generated symptom and defect data with the various stages of manufacturing would also improve the process and lead to a higher-quality product.